Cavs: 3 potential career outcomes for Kevin Porter Jr.

Porter Jr. potential career outcome #2 for the Cleveland Cavaliers: Superstar’s sidekick

I honestly think this is the most likely outcome of Kevin Porter Jr.’s career. While I think he could be a centerpiece, I think it’s far more likely we see him fall into the number two role on a contending team.

Porter Jr. is going to develop into a really good scorer. He averaged 10.0 points per game his first season and he is going to get ever better as he matures. But there are too many separate variables within his game to confidently say he’s going to become a star. Porter Jr. would have to be come an elite all-around player and add another elite skill to his resume.

Going back to the Harden comparison, Harden was a great scorer, but he also became a great passer as well. Porter Jr. would have to become a great passer, defender or rebounder in addition to great scoring in order to be considered a total centerpiece. While I’m not going to rule out this happening, I think it’s far more likely he becomes a great sidekick than a true star player.

Now this leads to another question: if Porter Jr. is the theoretical Robin for the Cleveland Cavaliers team, then who is the Batman? It probably won’t be Sexton or Garland. It likely won’t be Andre Drummond, who though he fully intends to pick up his $28.8 million player option for next season, may or may not prove to be a good fit for the near future. The centerpiece and savior for this Cavaliers organization is probably not a member of the team right now.

The player who Porter Jr. will fit best next to is someone who can score but also takes on the brunt of the playmaking duties.

In that realm, the two names that come to mind for me are two of the top prospects for the next two drafts: LaMelo Ball, a point guard who last played for the Illawarra Hawks in Australia’s National Basketball League, and Cade Cunningham, a point guard who is gearing up to play his freshman season with Oklahoma State University.

LaMelo Ball is one of the most polarizing prospects in the 2020 NBA Draft because of his high ceiling. While he has many question marks surrounding him, Ball has star potential due to his high-level passing ability, and he had a promising 6.8 assists per game in NBL play.

In Cunningham’s case, he is already considered one of the best players in the 2021 draft class mainly because of his 6-foot-7 size and passing abilities, of which KJG’s Corey Casey previously highlighted.

If the Cavaliers are lucky enough to land either Ball or Cunningham, I think Porter Jr. would be a great fit to pair next to them in the backcourt. Porter Jr. could focus on shooting and scoring while his counterpart could be the play initiator for the Cavaliers offense.

This is a scenario I would love to see unfold. If Ball or Cunningham happen to land with the Cavaliers in the draft and if the Cavaliers are able to add better defensive role-players, I think that Kevin Porter Jr. could thrive playing in the sidekick role.

Lastly, we’ll take a look at the third potential career outcome for Porter.